For the purposes of this assignment, I selected the Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles, California as my subject of analysis. The museum was founded in 1994 and considers it mission to the be the exploration and presentation of the history of the automobile on American life and culture. The museum houses several collections of rare, vintage, and historical automobiles and includes sculpture, photography and other artwork that pertains to car culture. It sits on the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire in Los Angeles and is housed in a purpose-designed structure that includes three main floors and a subterranean vault.
Interestingly, when I visited the museum’s website, no map was available. An “about” page listed the three main floors by theme: Artistry, History, and Industry. Summaries were listed under each category but no detail about actual content. I looked around and realized that the museum app had a map category, which I downloaded to my phone and was able to pull up pretty easily. The floors were divided into the above listed sections, but physical maps were present to detail the contents a bit more. They were listed as follows: Artistry – Artistry of the Automobile, Auto Art; Industry – Special Exhibits, racing culture, high performance, hot rods and manufacturing; and History – classic model A, model T, Film and Television, Concept cars.
I gave some thought to the arrangement when I visited the museum over winter break and then again when reviewing this assignment. The idea that categorization and ontologies help us make sense of the world resonated with me, given that I explored the museum with a husband who could rattle off the specs of every car we encountered without looking at his phone once. In my estimation the collection was arranged in order of interest, with most visitors stopping by History first. In my husband’s point of view, the collection was ordered to best offer insight into the evolution of car culture and the need to innovate or be left behind. The museum has tasked itself with the preservation of rare automobiles and the folklore associated with the inception of different cars and racing culture. The arrangement conveys a deep love and respect for the subject material. At risk of seeming disingenuous I would say that I could do little to improve upon the chosen categorization of this collection. If I were to change anything, I would consider an ontology that considered geographic areas of origin and chronology – to have an idea of the evolution of the automobile across specific cultural lines.
Being a Los Angeles native, I’m shocked that I have yet to visit this museum. As you mention in your post, there is a sort of “car culture” that exists. The history, artistry, and industry are all essential elements one must understand to be part of that culture. As was noted, this kind of layout was most likely created with the visitor in mind- not just any visitor though; visitors who themselves are part of the automobile culture. For an outsider, posed in chronological order and with region in mind, the museum may have been more ‘friendly’ and educational for them. As someone not at all familiar with automobile history or the technical aspect of them, I imagine I may feel a bit lost in the current layout. Or perhaps not. Whatever the case, I plan on visiting this museum!
It’s interesting to see how you and your husband had different views about how the exhibits were organized– by amount of interest or by evolution of car culture. You also noticed details like the arrangement of the cars and the folklore shared by the museum. I feel like these details can easily be overlooked (I might not even have noticed them myself), so it was insightful to read your analysis of how these details reflect the museum’s approach to the exhibitions and the material they were presenting. I agree with your alternative organization technique of using chronological order. I also mentioned this idea of chronology in my own post and think it’s extremely valuable if we could all see the timeline and evolution of automobiles.
What a unique museum, one I hope to be able to visit soon. I think it is so special when a museum can achieve the balance of being historically representative, while also claiming a broader message through tacit behavior, like the organization of the museum. While I am sure this museum focuses on American car culture predominantly throughout the 20th century, it would be interesting to see how its current structure might one day accommodate potentially this era of automobile innovation in a way that helps bridge these two vastly different eras of change and growth in the car industry.